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Watson's arm strength

So, I've been watching as much Watson tape as I can just because I enjoy doing it, and I'm looking forward to possibly having the first true franchise quarterback in the history of Houston Texans football (we all hope).

When we drafted Watson, and threw the draft process I was worried about his arm strength. I saw the numbers from the combine. We all did. But I have a problem with them.

Watson is the kind of quarterback that is excellent at putting touch on a ball. He does this better than most quarterback prospects I've watched in the last three or four years. Maybe better than any of them. To me, at the combine, the kid definitely wasn't throwing as hard as he could. He was throwing touch passes. I guess that made people doubt his arm.

When you watch the tape, he throws lasers. It may not be constant, but he throws them when he needs to. Sometimes that's what got him into trouble as his lasers would be tipped and picked or he'd try to fit them into tight coverage.

After watching tape, I am not in the least bit concerned with his arm. It's way better than Brian Hoyer's, which is what I was worried about. I think his arm is a plus because he's great at varying speeds on his passes as he needs to. Unlike Hoyer, with just a flick of the wrist, Watson slings some great deep balls. The biggest mistake he makes is that he overthrows the deep balls. That's not something you can say about quarterbacks with a lack of arm strength.

If he can clean that up, he'll be well on his way. He still has things to work with, including footwork. Although, that's improved leading up to the draft, some people think cleaning it up could lead to more velocity.

Moral of the story...after watching tape, I think his arm is more than sufficient.

As a bonus, here's the best comparison I can come up with: a very rich man's Ryan Fitzpatrick, which puts him fairly close to a Drew Brees-like player. Remember, Fitzpatrick was playing he best football of his career here...

You should watch his ELITE 11 tape. Dilfer was impressed at his ability to pick you apart with touch or bullets. Said he was one of the best natural throwers he's had to the camp. I was never concerned with arm talent. If you watch his tape, he unloads when he needs too.

Supporting Member

So, I've been watching as much Watson tape as I can just because I enjoy doing it, and I'm looking forward to possibly having the first true franchise quarterback in the history of Houston Texans football (we all hope).

When we drafted Watson, and threw the draft process I was worried about his arm strength. I saw the numbers from the combine. We all did. But I have a problem with them.

Watson is the kind of quarterback that is excellent at putting touch on a ball. He does this better than most quarterback prospects I've watched in the last three or four years. Maybe better than any of them. To me, at the combine, the kid definitely wasn't throwing as hard as he could. He was throwing touch passes. I guess that made people doubt his arm.

When you watch the tape, he throws lasers. It may not be constant, but he throws them when he needs to. Sometimes that's what got him into trouble as his lasers would be tipped and picked or he'd try to fit them into tight coverage.

After watching tape, I am not in the least bit concerned with his arm. It's way better than Brian Hoyer's, which is what I was worried about. I think his arm is a plus because he's great at varying speeds on his passes as he needs to. Unlike Hoyer, with just a flick of the wrist, Watson slings some great deep balls. The biggest mistake he makes is that he overthrows the deep balls. That's not something you can say about quarterbacks with a lack of arm strength.

If he can clean that up, he'll be well on his way. He still has things to work with, including footwork. Although, that's improved leading up to the draft, some people think cleaning it up could lead to more velocity.

Moral of the story...after watching tape, I think his arm is more than sufficient.

As a bonus, here's the best comparison I can come up with: a very rich man's Ryan Fitzpatrick, which puts him fairly close to a Drew Brees-like player. Remember, Fitzpatrick was playing he best football of his career here...

Click to expand...

Welcome brethren. It took you a while but I'm glad you made it. Pull out a chair get comfy and let us get more on our side.

here's the best comparison I can come up with: a very rich man's Ryan Fitzpatrick, which puts him fairly close to a Drew Brees-like player. Remember, Fitzpatrick was playing he best football of his career here...

Click to expand...

Fitzy actually had his best season his first year with the jets, after he was traded from the Texans

Speaking of which, wouldn't we prefer him to Brandon Weeden? He's still available

Click to expand...

Isnt Weeden under a guaranteed contract? I think we would take a cap hit, plus, Fitz would cost more.

Fitzy also has said, 'he learned more in a year under BOB, than any other coaches his whole career combined'. After hearing this from a very smart guy, how could anybody doubt OBs skill as a qb whisperer or offensive mind? Hes just been limited to shat qbs, some his doing, some others doings.

Anyone taken the time to watch the "one shot" series with Watson. Everyone loves this kid. He is so humble and you can tell he isn't pretending to be something that he is not. So impressed.

My favorite moment from the series was when someone asked him how it will feel to get drafted. He just started talking about his family and how it would make them feel. A very caring individual. He doesn't seem manufactured like Brock. Brock was fake, he was never comfortable with himself and I think a simple several hour meeting with BOB/Smith would have prevented the signing.

Tomorrow is the day that could change the rest of my life. I'm ecstatic, nervous as all get out, over the moon happy, and incredibly anxious all rolled into one. Just had to get that out there, as I'm a nervous bundle of energy. Thought this would be a good place to let some out.

I know I'm being intentionally vague, but I will update this thread in the coming weeks.

Wish me luck, tell me I suck, hate on me, I don't care.

In other news, I've been recently thinking that it's crazy that I've spent more than half of my life as a member of these boards. I joined in 2002, as a 14 year old. I'll be 30 in August. Crazy.

Not to mention the release speed. I read he has the same rate of release speed as Rogers.

Click to expand...

This can not be overstated enough. Release speed, decision making, progressions, footwork, and touch. I'd be curious to see how many milliseconds difference between a QB with a quick release and one with a slow release.

Greg Gabriel: Is a quarterback's velocity an indicator of how good he will be in the NFL?

The Bears' former director of college scouting, Greg Gabriel has over 30 years of experience in NFL scouting and he'll be breaking down the top NFL prospects to watch this college season and other NFL news each week here at Pro Football Weekly. You can follow Greg on Twitter @greggabe

On recent days there has been a lot of chatter on Twitter about the throwing velocity of the quarterbacks at the annual Scouting Combine. What velocity measures is how fast the ball is moving once thrown. In other words, miles per hour.

Some of the results from the Combine were as follows: Patrick Mahomes: 60 mph, Davis Webb: 59 mph, DeShone Kizer: 56 mph, Mitch Trubisky and Jerod Evans: 55 mph, Nate Peterman and Brad Kaaya: 53 mph and Deshaun Watson: 49 mph. The main Twitter concern was that Watson does not have an NFL arm. Nonsense!

After these results were tweeted out, there were a number of other tweets saying things such as, “The minimal number a QB can have is 55" or, "Anyone with less than 55 will struggle to play in the NFL,” etc.

I found these tweets amusing, as the people who were posting these things don’t have any idea of what they are talking about. Why? The “velocity” stat has only been used for a few years and there is not nearly enough evidence to tell us a thing other than the miles per hour a quarterback's throw is traveling. Ten years from now there may be some evidence, but today there is nothing. In fact when I asked some GMs and coaches around the league that I know about the stat they all agreed it was meaningless at this time as far as predicting anything. Again, not enough data.

Most if not all of the top quarterbacks in the league never had their velocity measured at the Combine. I guarantee you that some of the greatest of all-time would have “flunked’ the velocity test. Coming out of college Peyton Manning had a good, but not a great arm. Tom Brady actually had a bit less than a good arm and Drew Brees' arm strength coming out was below average at best.

How did we know this? We watched practice live and a lot of game tape. I was at a Purdue practice during Brees' final year and he struggled to complete a 12-yard out in windy conditions. I was at Peyton Manning’s Pro Day and in a scripted workout he showed far less than a cannon. One of the knocks on Brady coming out was he couldn’t “drive” the ball.

After each of these quarterbacks spent some time in the National Football League, their arm strength improved. In fact, not only did it improve, but it improved dramatically.

In many college programs, the quarterback is not forced to do much in the weight room. Once they get to the NFL, things change. If you want to keep your job and be able to compete, you have to do everything you can to improve. There are numerous exercises quarterbacks can do to improve their arm strength. These players look to improve grip strength, forearm strength and triceps strength. Improving those areas will improve the zip a quarterback has on the ball.

Yes, coaches and evaluators want a quarterback to have a strong arm, but they also want the player to throw a tight ball. In fact many believe “spin” is more important than outright arm strength. A strong-armed quarterback who doesn’t throw a tight ball will struggle in the wind. Likewise, a quarterback with an average arm can have success in the wind or cold if he can spin the ball properly.

Getting back to Deshaun Watson. Anyone who doesn’t think his arm is strong enough to play in the NFL doesn’t know how to evaluate. He has no trouble making every required NFL throw. He has proven this over and over again on tape. While he may not have the quickest release, he can make all the throws and can easily throw the ball 55 yards downfield with a tight spiral.

Next time you see such nonsense, just throw it away. It is, at best, a very inexact stat that people in the NFL aren’t putting a whole lot of stock in. It just so happens that those are the people that matter when it comes to evaluations.

Hey, you know who could throw the ball really hard? Buck-shot Brock. He could sling in there so hard no one could catch it so, give me the guy who knows about touch everyday and twice on Sundays over a hard thrower.

Hey, you know who could throw the ball really hard? Buck-shot Brock. He could sling in there so hard no one could catch it so, give me the guy who knows about touch everyday and twice on Sundays over a hard thrower.

I'll repeat from an earlier thread: I watched most of Watson's games at Clemson and it never occurred to me arm strength would be an issue in the NFL. In fact, one game his sophomore year an opponent game-planned specifically to take away the long ball because it was such a weapon. He proceeded to slice and and dice them with short and medium throws.

The big thing about arm strength is the little 5 and 10 yard out patterns. Not enough strength and a trailing corner will have a great angle to break on the ball and time to cover ground between the release and the time the ball gets there

If he can hit that consistently, he's golden.

We seem to go over this every year, I guess we forget. Arm strength is one of the poorest predictors of NFL success. Top quarterback prospects who are notable for arm strength are like 50/50 for success-failure. Being known for accuracy touch, or football intelligence is a much better predictor for NFL success.

There is a point where arm strength is "good enough" and beyond that arm more of a luxury than anything.

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